Friendship is Fate: Approaches, Recovery, and Growth
- The Point of it All
- Player Characters
- Conflicts (animated GIF warning)
- Approaches, Recovery, and Growth
Approaches
So here's a thing that I'm going to try out soon, regarding approaches*...
The Approaches are the Elements of Harmony. They work about how you expect.
- Loyalty to stand beside somebody despite the circumstances.
- Generosity to give from yourself.
- Kindness to be gentle.
- Laughter to play jokes and be silly.
- Honesty to tell others what they need to hear.
- Magic to do the impossible and illuminate truths(?).
Now here's the thing: A tie or a failure can mean a compel. Even using a certain approach in the first place can be a compel. The GM should be upfront before the dice are rolled about this sort of compel.
Like, Rarity can give something nice to Trixie to cheer her up -- let's say a new cape -- but Trixie doesn't accept. Wo
rse, she makes a backhanded remark to Rarity's face!
Rarity can accept this compel to act rashly in anger, or resist to simply take the rejection without the added complication of RIGHTEOUS UNICORN FUBULOSITY FURY!
Even your best intentions sometimes don't work out. Sometimes they backfire horribly (like a spell to make parasprites not eat food)! But sometimes, that's where the best moments of play are.
Recovery
So, consequences are pretty harsh, right? Well, in Friendship is Fate they're a bit more harsh. See, they don't start going away until you talk about them. Once you have an honest, vulnerable discussion with somebody about your consequence, only then does the consequence go through the recovery process as outlined in FAE.
When you do this you also take an XP.
Growth
So, I've been talking about XP for a little while. I guess it's time to define that now.
So, each PC has an XP track. This track has 5 bubbles. Each time the rules say to take or mark XP, fill in one of the bubbles.
When you fill in al the bubbles you take a minor milestone.
Minor Milestone
- Switch the ratings of any two elements.
- Rename one aspect that isn’t your high concept.
- Exchange one stunt for a different stunt.
- Choose a new stunt (and adjust your refresh, if you already have one).
On each fifth minor milestone, you take a significant milestone.
Significant Milestone
In addition to the benefit of a minor milestone, you also gain both of the following:
- If you have a severe consequence that’s been around for at least two sessions, you can clear it.
- Raise the bonus of one approach by one.
On your fifth significant milestone you take a major milestone.
Major Milestone
You get all the benefits of a minor and significant milestone, but you also...
- Take an additional point of refresh, which you may immediately use to purchase a stunt if you wish.
- Rename your character’s high concept (optional).
And that's it for my Friendship is Fate hack. At least, for now. I may revisit it with some tweaks and GM advice once I actually playtest it.
A this point I'm pretty satisfied with what I have here. I'll try to get a group together for a few sessions. Until then;
Catch you later, falling star.
*Thanks to Mark Diaz Truman and Clark Valentine for getting me over this hurdle!